1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of diapering garments, such as diapers, diaper covers, the combinations of a diaper and diaper cover, and diapering pants. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of the closing mechanism of diapering garments.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many types of diapering garments on the market today, whether designed and manufactured for commercial use or home use, utilize VELCRO-R fasteners for fastening purposes. There are two complementary types of VELCRO-R fasteners: male fasteners and female fasteners. Typically, each VELCRO-R fastener includes a thin backing which has two opposite surfaces: a front surface and a back surface. The back surface of a VELCRO-R fastener usually has no functional structures: the functional structure of the VELCRO-R fastener is carried on its front surface. The front surface of a male fastener is a hook type mating surface which has a large amount of filamentary hook members. The front surface of a female fastener is a loop type mating surface which has a large amount of filamentary loop members. When the hook type mating surface of a male fastener is pressed onto the loop type mating surface of a female fastener, the filamentary hook members of the male fastener will fasten onto the filamentary loop members of the female fastener, to thereby fasten the two fasteners together.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a prior art diapering garment 10, which represents a typical structure of currently available diapering garments. This prior art diapering garment 10 has an hourglass shaped main piece 12, which has an interior surface 14, an exterior surface 16 and a circumferential edge 18. The main piece 12 of the diapering garment 10 also has a generally straight front end 22, and a widened rear end 24 that extends to two arcuate shaped rear corners 26 and 28.
A first male VELCRO-R fastener 32 is affixed on the interior surface 14 of the diapering garment 10 at the first rear corner 26, adjacent to the circumferential edge 18. The hook type mating surface 34 of the first male fastener 32 is facing away from the interior surface 14 of the diapering garment 10. A second male fastener 36 is also affixed on the interior surface 14 of the diapering garment 10 at the second rear corner 28, adjacent to the circumferential edge 18. The hook type mating surface 38 of the second male fastener 36 is again facing away from the interior surface 14 of the diapering garment 10.
An elongated female fastener 42 is affixed on the exterior surface 16 of the diapering garment 10 at the straight front end 22, also adjacent to the circumferential edge 18. The loop type mating surface 44 of the female fastener 42 is facing away from the exterior surface 16 of the diapering garment 10. The elongated female fastener 42 has a first end 46 and a second end 48. When the diapering garment 10 is fastened onto a baby, its front end 22 is positioned adjacent to the baby's stomach, its rear end 24 is positioned adjacent to the baby's buttocks, and its two rear corners 26 and 28 are wrapped respectively around the opposite sides of the baby's waist from back to front. The first male fastener 32 can be affixed onto the first end 46 of the elongated female fastener 42, and the second male fastener 36 can be affixed onto the second end 48 of the elongated female fastener 42, to thereby fasten the diapering garment 10 onto the baby.
A special problem has been experienced by parents who use this type of diapering garment for their babies. The problem is that babies like to play with the fasteners. Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown as an example the attachment of the second rear corner 28 and the front end 22. When the hook type mating surface 38 of the second male fastener 36 is affixed onto the loop type mating surface 44 of the female fastener 42, many babies like to stick their little thumbs or fingers under the relatively heavy and thick edge 18 of the second rear corner 28, which provides an ideal object for the babies' thumbs or fingers to grasp or lift. It is understood that the heaviness and thickness of the corner portions of the diapering garment mentioned here and hereafter are relative as compared to the heaviness and thickness of the small and thin backing piece of the male and female VELCRO-R fasteners. This gives the babies something to play with. It has also been found that babies like to hear the sound generated by separating the VELCRO-R fasteners, as they are lifting the relatively heavy and thick edge of the rear corners from the front end of the diapering garment. With enough dexterity, babies often can fully open the male and female fasteners. As a result, the respective rear corner is completely detached from the front end of the diapering garment, and the diapering garment will fall off. This is very undesirable for parents because the loosened diapering garment enables the baby's excrement to flow and fall out of the diapering garment.
The same problem has also been experienced by parents who use another type of currently available prior art diapering garment for their babies, which is represented by the diapering garment shown in FIG. 3 at 50. Prior art diapering garment 50 is similar to the prior art diapering garment 10 shown in FIG. 1, except at its rear corners.
As shown in FIG. 3, the prior art diapering garment 50 has an elongated main piece 52, which has an interior surface 54, an exterior surface 56 and a circumferential edge 58. The main piece 52 of the diapering garment 50 also has a generally straight front end 62, and a generally straight rear end 64. Unlike the other prior art diapering garment 10, the main piece 52 of this diapering garment 50 does not have two arcuate shaped rear corners. Instead, it has two corner bands 66 and 68 laterally extended from and oppositely disposed at the rear end 64 of the diapering garment 50. One end of each corner band is attached to the edge 58 of the diapering garment 50, and the other opposite end is free floating. Each corner band also has an interior surface which merges with the interior surface 54 of the diapering garment 50, and an exterior surface which merges with the exterior surface 56 of the diapering garment 50.
Referring to FIG. 4, a first male VELCRO-R fastener 72 is affixed on the interior surface of the first corner band 66. The hook type mating surface 74 of the first male fastener 72 is facing away from the interior surface of first corner band 66. A second male fastener 76 is affixed on the interior surface of the second corner band 68. The hook type mating surface 78 of the second male fastener 76 is facing away from the interior surface of the second corner band 68.
An elongated female fastener 82 is affixed on the exterior surface 56 of the diapering garment 50 at the straight front end 62, also adjacent to the circumferential edge 58. The loop type mating surface 84 of the female fastener 82 is facing away from the exterior surface 56 of the diapering garment 50. The elongated female fastener 82 also has a first end 86 and a second end 88. When the diapering garment 50 is fastened onto a baby, its front end 62 is positioned adjacent to the baby's stomach, its rear end 64 is positioned adjacent to the baby's buttocks, and its two corner bands 66 and 68 are wrapped respectively around the opposite sides of the baby's waist from back to front. The first male fastener 72 can be affixed onto the first end 86 of the elongated female fastener 82, and the second male fastener 76 can be affixed onto the second end 88 of the elongated female fastener 82, to thereby fasten the diapering garment 50 onto the baby.
The problem with this type of diapering garment is again, for example, that the relatively heavy and thick corner band 68 provides an ideal object for babies to play with. Babies like to stick their little thumbs or fingers under the relatively heavy and thick corner band 68, as shown in FIG. 4, and pull the male and female fasteners open.
It is desirable to have an apparatus which enforces the closure mechanism of the diapering garments so that babies will have a more difficult time in opening the diapering garments.